About Covid-19
Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax gear up for fall Covid vaccine rollout with an important head start “KEY POINTS
—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Covid strain selection for the next round of shots is a decisive win for Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax.
—The FDA advised the three pharmaceutical companies to manufacture single-strain jabs targeting the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.
—The agency’s decision puts the vaccine makers on track to deliver updated coronavirus jabs in time for the fall and winter.”
About health insurance/insurers
Value-Based Purchasing Design And Effect: A Systematic Review And Analysis “This systematic review qualitatively characterized the financial and nonfinancial features of VBP programs and examined how such features combine to create a level of program intensity that relates to desired quality and spending outcomes. Higher-intensity VBP programs are more frequently associated with desired quality processes, utilization measures, and spending reductions than lower-intensity programs. Thus, although there may be reasons for payers and providers to opt for lower-intensity programs (for example, to increase voluntary participation), these choices apparently have consequences for spending and quality outcomes.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Washington Health System to merge with UPMC “The boards of Washington (Pa.) Health System and Pittsburgh-based UPMC signed a letter of intent to negotiate a deal that would integrate WHS into UPMC.
The signing of the letter of intent means WHS and UPMC have agreed to conditions of affiliation. In the coming months, both entities will engage in due diligence, research and discussions to work towards a definitive agreement.”
Medicare Beneficiaries’ Perspectives on the Quality of Hospital Care and Their Implications for Value-Based Payment “In this survey study of 1025 Medicare beneficiaries, clinical outcomes was the most important quality domain when choosing a hospital (weight, 49%), followed by safety (weight, 22%), patient experience (weight, 21%), and efficiency (weight, 8%).
Meaning These findings suggest that current HVBP program value weights do not reflect the preferences of Medicare beneficiaries, and using beneficiary preferences may exacerbate disparities by rewarding larger, high-volume hospitals.”
San Francisco questions legality of US News hospital rankings “David Chiu, San Francisco's city attorney, sent a letter to U.S. News & World Report June 20 demanding that the media outlet explain its methodology, how it intends to address apparent biases, and immediately publicly disclose the revenue it receives from hospitals.
’Consumers use these rankings to make consequential healthcare decisions, and yet there is little understanding that the rankings are fraught and that U.S. News has financial relationships with the hospitals it ranks,’ Mr. Chiu said in a news release issued from his office.
‘The hospital rankings appear to be biased towards providing treatment for wealthy, white patients, to the detriment of poorer, sicker, or more diverse populations. Perverse incentives in the rankings risk warping our healthcare system,’ Mr. Chiu said. ‘Hospitals are treating to the test by investing in specialties that rack up the most points rather than in primary care or other worthy specialties.’”
About pharma
Pharmaceutical trade group sues US over Medicare drug price negotiation plans “The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the leading industry lobby group, and two other organizations on Wednesday said they were suing the U.S. government to block enforcement of a program that gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices.
In a complaint filed in a federal court in Texas, PhRMA along with the National Infusion Center Association and the Global Colon Cancer Association, which counts PhRMA and some drug companies as members, said the drug price negotiation program was unconstitutional.”
The Rise and Fall of the Insulin Pricing Bubble Read the whole article- it covers more than insulin prices.
Here are a couple highlights:
—“…from 2012 to 2019, gross sales for 4 leading insulin products in the US more than doubled (from $13 billion to $27 billion), while net sales after rebates and other confidential discounts dropped by approximately 40% (from $8 billion to $5 billion). This growing bubble between list prices and net prices was fueled by price concessions that exceeded 80% by 2019. More than two-thirds of these price concessions were negotiated between manufacturers and commercial or Medicare Part D plans, while the remainder were required under law, including statutory discounts in Medicaid, Medicare, and the 340B Drug Pricing Program…”
—"Other new federal policies, including those in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, could affect pricing behavior for even more brand-name drugs…But, there are at least 2 reasons why the IRA may actually contribute to higher gross-to-net–price ratios. First, because drug companies will be penalized for raising prices each year, they may launch new drugs at even higher list prices and offer higher rebates to insurance plans and PBMs. Second, when a drug in one class is selected for Medicare negotiation, manufacturers of other drugs in that class may seek to compete for formulary placement by offering higher rebates.”
About the public’s health
Gas and Propane Combustion from Stoves Emits Benzene and Increases Indoor Air Pollution “To our knowledge, however, no research has quantified the formation of benzene indoors from gas combustion by stoves. Across 87 homes in California and Colorado, natural gas and propane combustion emitted detectable and repeatable levels of benzene that in some homes raised indoor benzene concentrations above well-established health benchmarks. Mean benzene emissions from gas and propane burners on high and ovens set to 350 °F ranged from 2.8 to 6.5 μg min−1, 10 to 25 times higher than emissions from electric coil and radiant alternatives; neither induction stoves nor the food being cooked emitted detectable benzene. Benzene produced by gas and propane stoves also migrated throughout homes, in some cases elevating bedroom benzene concentrations above chronic health benchmarks for hours after the stove was turned off. Combustion of gas and propane from stoves may be a substantial benzene exposure pathway and can reduce indoor air quality.”
About healthcare IT
Rule on Copyrights Must Be Reviewed, Right to Repair Appeal Brief Argues “The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) have entered the “right to repair” legal fray, questioning the Library of Congress’s (LOC) ability to grant copyright exemptions to third-party repair companies without the opportunity for judicial review.
In their briefs supporting an appeal of the recent circuit court “right-to-repair” ruling, the organizations argue that the LOC’s actions erode copyright protections when it comes to medical device repairs.
The issue concerns whether third-party entities should have access to copyrighted software so they are able to repair FDA-regulated medical devices.”
About health technology
MDIC aims to encourage, fund advanced manufacturing with online clearing house “Medical device makers that use novel, developing or already established technologies in a way that uniquely advances the manufacturing of their products can now apply to an online clearing house where they can share the story of their journey with other companies and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – and get funding of up to $300,000 for their efforts.
The goal of the Advanced Manufacturing Clearing House from the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) is to find ways to get devices on shelves and to patients faster, as well as avoid product shortages like those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples of technologies used in advanced manufacturing include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), virtual modeling and simulation, and digital twins—a virtual representation of a system—just to name a few.”
FDA pilot program aims to lower risks of using lab-developed tests to select cancer drugs “FDA announced the creation of a voluntary pilot program that will assist clinicians in selecting the appropriate treatment for patients with cancer through the use of laboratory-developed tests…
According to the press release, the FDA has become concerned that lab-made tests the agency did not authorize may not provide accurate and reliable results, which can negatively impact treatment decisions.
The new pilot program seeks to assist in reducing the risk of using laboratory-developed tests for oncology drug treatment decisions while the FDA continues work on a broader approach for their use.”
About healthcare finance
BD sells off surgical instruments unit to Steris for $540M BD announced Tuesday that it has inked a deal with Steris, an Irish maker of medical equipment used for sterilization and surgical procedures, to sell off its surgical instrumentation unit.
Under the terms of their agreement, Steris will take on not only BD’s V. Mueller, Snowden-Pencer and Genesis product lines but also a trio of manufacturing facilities in Missouri, Ohio and Germany as well as the 360 BD employees who work within the business unit. The newly purchased assets will slot into Steris’ healthcare segment, according to the announcement.”
Health services: US Deals 2023 midyear outlook “Health services deal volumes in the 12 months ending May 15, 2023 declined a modest 4% from levels seen in 2022. However, volumes remain at nearly twice the levels seen from 2018 to 2020. Deal values declined by a more meaningful 15%, a continuation of the trend seen in 2022 where a greater portion of deal volume is being driven by smaller value roll-up and add-on transactions as opposed to transformational platform deals and megadeals.”
The article has examples of recent deals.